To remember the 70th anniversary of the German attack on Poland and the beginning of the Second World War, the exhibition “Im Objektiv des Feindes” (In the Enemy’s Lens) will be shown at Willy-Brandt-Haus in Berlin. It will consist of photos that had been taken by German Wehrmacht or Waffen-SS war correspondents in Warsaw between 1939 and 1945. In addition to the images, diaries, memories and other documents will be shown.
German war correspondent (Air Force NCO with Leica III and tele lens), Warsaw 1939
Through the lens of the German war correspondents, a propaganda perception of Warsaw and its inhabitants can be seen: the Poland Campaign, damages to the city and repressions against the population, everyday life in the occupied city and in the ghetto (until its liquidation after the Ghetto uprising of 1943), the Warsaw Uprising (from 1 August 1944) and the destruction of Warsaw between October 1944 and January 1945.
During the Second World War, some 700,000 inhabitants of Warsaw were killed. Nearly the whole Jewish population was murdered. In 1945, Warsaw was an almost deserted and virtually flattened city.
The photos mainly come from the stock of the photo agency bpk of Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage) in Berlin, supplemented by images from the Bundesarchiv (German federal archive) in Koblenz.
Danuta Jackiewicz and Eugeniusz Cezary Król curated the exhibition that is a cooperation between the History Meeting House (Warsaw) – founded in 2005, where the exhibition could be seen in 2008 -, the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Berlin) and the Bundesarchiv (Koblenz) under participation of the Herder Institut (Marburg), the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw) and the university Collegium Civitas (Warschau). The eshibition was financially supported by the Stiftung für Deutsch-Polnische Zusammenarbeit (Foundation for German-Polish Cooperation).
A comprehensive catalogue with 358 mostly unpublished photos on 407 pages will be published for the price of 35 €.
Opening
Monday 27 April 2009 at 1930h
Endorsement:
Wolfgang Thierse, Vice President of the German Parliament
Welcoming addresses:
Bogdan Borusewicz, President of the Polish Senate (politician, historian and co-founder of Solidarność)
Włodzimierz Paszyński, Deputy President of the City of Warsaw
Norbert Zimmermann, Vice President of Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz
Introduction:
Eugeniusz Cezary Król, Co-curator of the exhibtion, Professor at the Institute for Polish Studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences
Exhibition
The exhibition will be opened between 28 April and 3 June from Tuesday to Sunday 1200-1800h (closed on 1 May).
Entrance is free of charge, but a personal ID card is needed.
Address:
Willy-Brandt-Haus
Wilhelmstr. 140 / Stresemannstr. 28
10963 Berlin-Kreuzberg
Leider wird nur eine kleine Auswahl aus dem umfangreichen Katalog gezeigt und viele Bilder haben keinen Erklärtext, z.B. alle Posterbilder zwischen den Aufstellern. Gerade bei Ausstellungen zu solchen Themen sollte man genau arbeiten. Auch die 1:1 Übersetzung aus dem Polnischen ist manchmal etwas befremdlich. So sind ohne Zweifel die polnischen Opfer der brutalen deutschen Besetzung Helden des Widerstandes, aber Formulierungen wie “…starb den Märtyrertod…” verlassen dann doch den historisch-sachlichen Rahmen.